Senior Fellow Ivan Eland appears on RTs CrossTalk program to discuss topics surrounding the US Patriot Act and whether or not Edward Snowden was a hero or a traitor. On a panel with other defense analysts, the US war against terror is debated. The panel discusses whether or not the US government is violating the constitutional rights by collecting metadata of phone calls and emails of US citizens.

Entrepreneur and Author Peter A. Thiel spoke at a luncheon sponsored by the Independent Institute on January 27, 2015. He shared insights from his new book Zero to One on how to create true innovations in the world of atomsnot just digits and bitsand how to foster a peaceful, prosperous and freer future marked by globalization in a world of limited resources.

Research Fellow Anthony Gregory, author of "The Power of Habeas Corpus in America,"
discusses how politicians love to declare war on social and economic issues, and how these "wars" only manage to increase government power while reducing liberty.

Senior Fellow Randy T. Simmons, co-editor of Aquanomics, looks at the battles over water in the western United States. Thirsty citizens of growing cities, farmers, factories and environmentalists are in a fight for a natural resource that is priced arbitrarily. Its value is determined not by the free market, but by bureaucrats. Outdated government reclamation projects and water policies have put residents of the Golden State at the mercy of the weather, and of government's mandatory regulations.